2001: LA Routs Demons for XFL Title

The 10-game XFL season culminated in a two-round postseason capped by the championship game. On April 21, 2001 the Los Angeles Xtreme hosted the San Francisco Demons at the Memorial Coliseum in the contest dubbed the “Million Dollar Game”.

The Xtreme, coached by Al Luginbill, had won the Western Division with a 7-3 record. They were the league’s highest-scoring team (235 points) while QB Tommy Maddox was the individual leader in passing yards (2186) and touchdown passes (18). Maddox (pictured above) had underachieved in the NFL with the Broncos, Rams, and Giants, but after time away from the game and a stint playing arena football, showed improvement as a pocket passer. His primary target was WR Jeremaine Copeland, who led the XFL with 67 receptions (16 more than the runner-up, Birmingham’s Stepfret Williams). At the other wide receiver spot, Darnell McDonald led the league with eight touchdowns.

San Francisco, under Head Coach Jim Skipper, had come in second to Los Angeles in the Western Division with a mediocre 5-5 record (they gained a playoff spot over Memphis thanks to tiebreakers). QB Mike Pawlawski was the league leader in completion percentage (62.6) while finishing second to Maddox in passing yards (1659) and third in TD passes (12). WR Jimmy Cunningham was the top receiver with a third-ranked 50 catches for 408 yards.

The Xtreme defeated the Chicago Enforcers in the first round of the playoffs, 33-16, while the Demons upset the club with the XFL’s best record, the Orlando Rage (8-2), by a 26-25 score.

The teams had split their two meetings during the regular season, but before a spirited crowd of 24,153, the Xtreme dominated. After jumping out to a 3-0 first quarter lead thanks to a 37-yard field goal by the league’s top placekicker, Jose Cortez, Los Angeles took control with 18 second quarter points. Maddox hit TE Josh Wilcox with a one-yard scoring pass early in the period, and DB Reggie Durden returned a punt 71 yards for the next touchdown; in both instances, the extra point attempt (which, as mandated by league rules, couldn’t be kicked) failed. Cortez kicked field goals of 34 and 50 yards just before the half.

LA extended the lead to 31-0 in the third quarter thanks to a 19-yard TD pass from Maddox to Copeland (the run for an extra point was successful) and the fourth field goal of the day for Cortez, from 22 yards. RB Rashaan Shehee capped the scoring for the Xtreme in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard touchdown pass to WR Latario Rachal (Shehee then proceeded to run for the successful PAT). San Francisco avoided being shut out late in the game as QB Oteman Sampson ran for a 21-yard touchdown. The final score was 38-6.


The statistics reflected the Xtreme’s domination. Maddox was the game’s MVP as he completed 16 of 28 passes for 210 yards with two TDs and an interception. Darnell McDonald was the leading receiver with 7 catches for 82 yards (Jeremaine Copeland had 4 receptions for 67 yards, which included the one TD). RB Saladin McCullough (pictured) rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries.

Three San Francisco quarterbacks combined for just 11 completions in 27 attempts for 115 yards with three intercepted (two by safety Ron Carpenter); Pawlawski accounted for 8 of 20 of that total, for 74 yards with two of the interceptions. Jimmy Cunningham was by far the receiving leader for the Demons, with 6 catches for 71 yards. San Francisco was not a very successful running team during the season, and it was evident in this contest as well as the third-string QB, Sampson, was the leading rusher – even without the touchdown run at the end - with 36 yards on two carries.

The game not only decided the league championship but was the last in the XFL’s brief history. While Vince McMahon, the World Wrestling Federation promoter who founded the new football league, spoke gamely of returning for another year, it was not to be. After the first week of telecasts on NBC, viewership had dropped off badly and the network was not interested in televising another season. Football fans were disappointed in the subpar quality of play and WWF-style trappings that further damaged the league’s credibility. The XFL officially folded a few weeks after the “Million Dollar Game”.

Tommy Maddox made the most of his XFL success, returning to the NFL in the fall of 2001 with the Pittsburgh Steelers; he took over as starting quarterback in ’02 and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press. He ended up as a member of Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl-winning squad in 2005, although by then he was backing up Ben Roethlisberger.

Jeremaine Copeland went to the Canadian Football League, playing for the Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders, where he was a member of Grey Cup championship teams in 2002 (Montreal) and ’08 (Calgary). Jose Cortez became a journeyman placekicker in the NFL, appearing with seven teams from 2001 to ’05.

2001: The XFL Debuts With Games in Las Vegas and Orlando

On February 3, 2001 a new pro football league launched its season with two games. The XFL, founded by World Wrestling Federation promoter Vince McMahon, promised a brash and hard-hitting style of play that would contrast with the more staid, established NFL (it was assumed that the “X” stood for “Xtreme”, but the league insisted it was not an abbreviation). While there would be plenty of entertainment surrounding the games, much in line with the WWF’s format, the football was to be serious with adjustments to the rules that would heighten the action – for instance, while there would still be extra points, and they would be worth a single point as in the NFL, they could not be kicked but either run or passed for; fair catches on punts and kickoffs weren’t allowed; the opening coin toss was replaced by “the scramble” in which a player from each team vied for possession of a ball placed at the 50 yard line; and there would be no penalties for taunting or celebrating.

There were eight teams, all part of a single league entity (as opposed to individually operated franchises as in the NFL) and utilizing a set pay scale. They played a 10-game schedule, with two games per week on Saturday nights and two on Sundays throughout the season, which was played in the late winter/early spring months and thus not putting the XFL in direct competition with the NFL.

The first game on the opening Saturday night was at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas between the Las Vegas Outlaws and the visiting New York/New Jersey Hitmen. There were 30,389 fans in attendance and a national viewing audience for the game on NBC that exceeded expectations. Unfortunately for the new league, the game was a rather drab affair as the Outlaws defeated the Hitmen, 19-0. None of the three quarterbacks for the New York/New Jersey club (Charles Puleri, Wally Richardson, and Corte McGuffey) were effective as they combined to complete 18 of 40 passes for 205 yards with two interceptions.


Meanwhile, Las Vegas QB Ryan Clement (pictured at right) threw touchdown passes of 14 yards to TE Rickey Brady and 27 yards to WR Nakia Jenkins among his 13 completions (of 28 attempts) for 188 yards as the Outlaws scored all of their points in the first half. RB Rod Smart led the running attack with 46 yards on 13 carries and also caught two passes for 48 yards. In addition, he used the nickname “He Hate Me” in place of his last name on the back of his jersey, which made him an instant celebrity in the league (it was reported that he had actually wanted to use “They Hate Me”, but it was too long to fit).

The network cut away to the second game of the evening, at Orlando’s Citrus Bowl in front of 35,603 fans where the Orlando Rage hosted the Chicago Enforcers. This was a far closer and more high-scoring game, won by Orlando, 33-29. There were big plays as the Rage’s QB Jeff Brohm connected with WR Kevin Swayne on a 51-yard pass play for the first score of the contest and Chicago’s Tim Lester twice hit RB John Avery on TD passes that covered 68 and 64 yards respectively.


Avery (pictured at left), who had played for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, ran for 157 yards on 25 attempts and had 93 more yards on three pass receptions. But it was Brohm’s four touchdown passes that carried the day for Orlando – even though they missed all five extra point attempts (Chicago converted two of four).

The high television ratings of the first week failed to last into the second – the dropoff was significant, and they never rebounded. Football fans were disappointed in the caliber of play as well as the professional wrestling-style trappings that in turn fed a distrust of the legitimacy of the games. In attempting to appeal to both professional wrestling and football fans, the XFL failed to satisfy either, and it would ultimately doom the venture after one season.

Orlando put together the best record during the regular season at 8-2, but lost in the first playoff round. Chicago finished at 5-5 and second to the Rage in the Eastern Division, also losing in the first postseason round. Las Vegas and New York/New Jersey both missed the playoffs with identical 4-6 records, putting the Outlaws at the bottom of the Western Division and the Hitmen in third place in the Eastern.

John Avery built on his strong opening game performance to lead the league in rushing with 800 yards; Rod Smart was second with 555.